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Jan 19 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Fiona Bruce introduces James Barthlomew as an "author & journalist".

A quick #THREAD about how this description of him is misleading, & deliberately conceals vital information.

Bartholomew trained as a banker in the City of London, & claims the welfare state as "dysfunctional"
In fact, someone at the @BBC really likes what Bartholomew has to say, & in 2019, @BBCNewsnight gave him airtime to make the absurd claim that not just Britain's, but ALL welfare states are "dysfunctional".
Batholomew's book 'The Welfare State We're In' received the free-market fundamentalist 'think tank' Institute of Economic Affairs' Arthur Seldon Award in 2005 & the Atlas Foundation’s Sir Antony Fisher Memorial Award in 2007.

Bartholomew is credited with popularising the infantile culture war term "virtue signalling" - a favoured phrase of right-wing ideological extremists - which he is said to have coined in the tax-avoiding non-dom billionaire-owned Spectator, in 2015.

Bartholomew is founder & Director of the 'Museum of Communist Terror'. The trustees read like a Brextremist 'who's who', & include Owen Patterson, Daniel Hannan, Tim Montgomerie, Tory peer Nigel Vinson, & Vote Leave digital strategist, Thomas Borwick. Chloe Westley is a Director.
In the 2019 European Parliament election, Bartholomew stood as a candidate for Farage's Brexit Party. He wasn't elected - thank fuck.

He's a shit-stirring Brextremist free-market fundamentalist, & it's shameful that #bbcqt concealed his true identity.

#bbcqt #EnoughlsEnough #NHS

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More from @docrussjackson

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Jan 20
In 2022, 36,307 prisoners in England & Wales identified as Christian, 25,218 as having no religion, while 14,037 as Muslims. Does this mean religious people are more inclined to crime? No.

Btw, 50% of Muslims live in the 10% most deprived local authority districts in Britain, Image
It's almost impossible to get statistical information relating to prisoners class background, but everyone knows almost all prisoners come from poorer working class backgrounds.

In 2019/20 the overall cost per prison place was £44,640/year.

When someone is imprisoned, the family members relying on them become more susceptible to financial insecurity & economic burdens.

With poverty & imprisonment so interconnected, is imprisonment pushing more families below the poverty line?

borgenproject.org/inequality-beh…
Read 7 tweets
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Jan 20
#THREAD

Free to read article: 'The origins of ‘cakeism’: the British think tank debate over repatriating sovereignty & its impact on the UK’s Brexit strategy', exploring the notion the UK could keep certain EU benefits, or not suffer costs after Brexit.

tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…
The analysis demonstrates how the assumptions behind what article author Andrew Glencross calls #cakeism, originated after 1992 in policy circles associated with #TuftonStreet 'think tanks' & the Conservative Party, particularly the European Research Group (ERG).
They argued that a free-trade alternative to the EU was easy to put in place by simply disaggregating preferred elements of the single market from supranationalism.
Read 61 tweets
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Jan 20
#THREAD

The editor-in-chief of the Independent newspaper (which is now online only), is the ex-editor of the tax-avoiding shit-stirring Tory-supporting right-wing anti-NHS anti-woke anti-EU anti-migrant anti-Left Brextremist non-dom billionaire-owned Daily Mail, Geordie Greig. Image
Concerningly, the Independent’s ownership structure is rather opaque: a 30% stake in the company was sold to a Saudi Arabian businessman Sultan Mohamed Abuljadayel, controlling his stake through an offshore company in the Cayman Islands.

theguardian.com/media/2023/jan…
In 2019, the UK believed a bank with close links to the Saudi state was a part-owner.

Ofcom insisted the newspaper had not changed their coverage of Saudi Arabia following the investment, but a regulatory investigation was blocked after the Govt missed deadlines to intervene.
Read 9 tweets
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Jan 20
'Discursive (re)construction of populist sovereignism by right-wing hard Eurosceptic parties in the 2019 European parliament elections: Insights from the UK, Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.'

benjamins.com/catalog/jlp.20…
This article focuses on the policies & language of four right-wing Eurosceptic politicians: Ivan David of Freedom & Direct Democracy, Czech Republic; Nigel Farage of the Brexit Party; Matteo Salvini of the League in Italy' & Milan Uhrik of Slovakia’s People’s Party Our Slovakia.
A key issue investigated is that of 'sovereignism', the defence of the political independence of nation states as opposed to the federalism and pooled sovereignty that an organisation such as the European Union inevitably involves.
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Jan 20
#THREAD

This year's farcical #COP28 conference will take place in Dubai, & Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber has been announced as its president.

The problem is, Al Jaber is CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, one of the world's biggest oil producers!

Tony Blair approves - but why? Image
The appointment has prompted much controversy along the lines of "town arsonist put in charge of fire brigade", but one voice cheering the news was that of former Corbyn-hating Vicar of St Albion, now Global Leader & Change Maker, Tony Blair himself! Image
Tony Blair issued a statement saying: "I welcome the appointment of Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber... This is a pivotal year in the fight against climate change... Domestically and internationally, the UAE has shown leadership in climate investment and innovation!" Image
Read 7 tweets
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Jan 20
This article uncovers the origins of ‘cakeism’ - the notion the UK could keep certain EU benefits or not suffer costs after Brexit.

The assumptions behind cakeism originated after 1992 in policy circles associated with the Conservative Party.

…w-tandfonline-com.hallam.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.10…
They misleadingly argued that a free-trade alternative to the EU was easy to put in place by simply disaggregating preferred elements of the single market from supranationalism.
A Westminster-centric perspective also meant these proto-Brexiters were unable to countenance any potential domestic disruption caused by leaving the EU.
Read 5 tweets

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